The plot has thickened over the fate of Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball as another person is claiming legal ownership of the piece of baseball history.
Joseph Davidov, a 32-year-old Broward County, Fla., resident, filed a lawsuit Friday in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court stating that he is the rightful owner of the milestone ball hit by the Dodgers superstar Sept. 19 during a game against the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park.
Davidov is seeking ownership of the historic ball, an injunction preventing the four defendants — Goldin Auctions LLC and Florida residents Chris Belanski, Kelvin Ramirez and Max Matus — from selling the ball, and damages in excess of $50,000.
“We believe [Davidov] is the rightful owner of the ball based upon him having it first,” attorney Devon Workman told The Times on Monday.
That seventh-inning home run made Ohtani the first MLB player to have 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season. A mad scramble ensued in the left-center field stands, with a fan identified as Belanski emerging with the ball. He was immediately escorted away by stadium security.
The ball is being sold by Goldin Auctions. As of Monday morning, the bidding stood at $1.2 million with 13 bids having been submitted. The auction is scheduled to close Oct. 16.
The lawsuit states that Davidov was the first person to secure possession of the ball.
“Shortly after Plaintiff obtained possession of the 50/50 Ball with his left hand, an unknown fan wrongfully jumped over the railing, jumped onto the Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s arm and attacked the Plaintiff causing the 50/50 Ball to come loose and roll into the hands of Defendant CHRIS BELANSKI,” the lawsuit states.
“Plaintiff would have retained control and possession of the 50/50 Ball if were not for the assault of the unknown fan who jumped onto the Plaintiff.”
Workman told The Times that the case is similar to the battle over Barry Bonds’ 73rd home run ball in 2001, in which two fans — Alex Popov and Patrick Hayashi — claimed ownership of the historic ball. A California Superior Court judge found that both men were the legal owners and ordered them to sell the ball and split the earnings.
“The one thing I think is pretty clear in my client’s case is that out of everybody, he was essentially the only one that was jumped on, thrown to the ground,” Workman said. “It’s very similar to Popov v. Hayashi back in 2001, where that person first had it, was also assaulted on the ground and lost the ball, and then the court ultimately decided that he did have possession of it and they had to split the proceeds.
“Our position is that our client was clearly jumped on when he had possession of that ball. At that time he was the rightful owner. So that’s the only difference, I guess, between the other people claiming it; my client actually was somewhat assaulted there by that guy jumping on him.”
Video footage from the stands shows Davidov, wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt, smiling and shaking Belanski’s hand after the latter man had secured the ball. Workman attributed that action to “the adrenaline, the historic moment.”
“He was celebrating with everybody else,” Workman said of Davidov.
On Wednesday, Matus filed a lawsuit against Belanski, Ramirez and Goldin Auctions, claiming ownership of the ball and looking to stop its sale. The next day, Matus filed a motion for an emergency temporary injunction to prevent the start of the auction, which had been scheduled for Friday, pending the result of the lawsuit.
Judge Spencer Eig deferred the motion until an Oct. 10 hearing, allowing the auction to start as scheduled but noting that the defendants cannot “sell, conceal or transfer the 50/50 Ball pending the Court’s ruling on Plaintiffs’ Motion.”
According to Matus’ lawsuit, the 18-year-old high school senior had possession of the ball until Belanski “wrapped his legs around Max’s arm and used his hands to wrangle the ball out of Max’s hand, stealing the ball for himself.” Matus’ lawsuit also states that Ramirez “attended the game with Defendant Belanski and has (wrongfully) claimed ownership interest in the 50/50 Ball on social media.”
The Times has been unable to reach Belanski or Ramirez. Matus’ attorney did not immediately respond to a message from The Times on Monday.